BACKGROUND:Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease.It is important to study the immunological changes involved in it for diagnosis and treatment. OBJECTIVE:To identify immune-related biomarkers associated with rheumatoid arthritis utilizing bioinformatics techniques and examine alterations in immune cell infiltration as well as the relationship between immune cells and biomarkers. METHODS:Differential expression analysis was used to identify the immune-related genes that were up-regulated in rheumatoid arthritis based on the GEO and Immport databases.Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG)and gene ontology(GO)enrichment analyses were used to investigate the possible function of these elevated genes.The immunological characteristic genes associated with rheumatoid arthritis were screened using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(Lasso)and support vector machine recursive feature elimination(SVM-RFE).Independent datasets were used for difference validation,and the diagnostic performance was evaluated by plotting receiver operating characteristic curves for feature genes.Immune cell infiltration was used to analyze the differential profile of immune cells in rheumatoid arthritis and the correlation between the characterized genes and immune cells.In order to ascertain the causal relationship between monocytes and rheumatoid arthritis in immune cells,Mendelian randomization analysis was ultimately employed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:There were 39 upregulated differentially expressed genes in rheumatoid arthritis.The genes were primarily enriched in chemotaxis,cytokine activity,and immune receptor activity,according to GO enrichment analysis,while kEGG enrichment analysis revealed that the genes were considerably enriched in the tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway and peripheral leukocyte migration.Lasso and SVM-RFE identified five feature genes:CXCL13,SDC1,IGLC1,PLXNC1,and SLC29A3.Independent dataset validation of the feature genes found them to be similarly highly expressed in rheumatoid arthritis samples,with area under the curve values greater than 0.8 for all five feature genes in both datasets.Immune cell infiltration indicated that most immune cells,including natural killer cells and monocytes,exhibited increased levels of infiltration in rheumatoid arthritis samples.The correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between memory B cells and immature B cells and these five feature genes.Correlation analysis showed that the five feature genes were positively correlated with memory B cells and immature B cells.The inverse variance weighting method revealed that monocytes were associated with the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

To investigate the correlation between the number of peripheral blood circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and clinicopathological features of early breast cancer. 
 Methods: The clinical and pathological data from 100 patients with early breast cancer treated by a breast cancer treatment team in the Department of Breast Surgery, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, were collected from January 2017 to December 2018. For these patients, their peripheral blood CTCs were detected, enumerated and typed by CanpatrolTM CTC assay.
 Results: The positive rate of CTCs was 90% in peripheral blood of patients with early breast cancer, and the majority of molecular phenotypes was hybrid CTCs (55.6%). The positive rate of CTCs was only related to the pathological type of tumor (P<0.05), but not to other clinicopathological features. No correlation between clinicopathological features and the total number of CTCs, the number of epithelial CTCs or the number of hybrid CTCs was found. However, the number of mesenchymal CTCs was significantly correlated with the expression of hormone receptors and Ki-67 (r=0.200, P<0.05), and there was a significant correlation between the proportion of mesenchymal CTCs and the expression level of Ki-67 (r=0.213, P<0.05).
 Conclusion: The number of CTCs is not correlated with all clinicopathological features, but patients with negative hormone receptor and high expression of Ki-67 probably have more hybrid CTCs.
Biomarkers, Tumor ; Breast Neoplasms ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; Humans ; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating

Objective: Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss is seldom achieved with nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) therapy in chronic hepatitis B patients but may be enhanced by switching to finite pegylated-interferon (Peg-IFN) alfa-2a. We assessed HBsAg loss with 48- and 96-week Peg-IFN alfa-2a in chronic hepatitis B patients with partial response to a previous NA. Methods: Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients who achieved HBeAg loss and hepatitis B virus DNA < 200 IU/mL with previous adefovir, lamivudine or entecavir treatment were randomized 1:1 to receive Peg-IFN alfa-2a for 48 (n = 153) or 96 weeks (n = 150). The primary endpoint of this study was HBsAg loss at end of treatment. The ClinicalTrials.gov identifier is NCT01464281. Results: At the end of 48 and 96 weeks' treatment, 14.4% (22/153) and 20.7% (31/150) of patients, respectively, who switched from NA to Peg-IFN alfa-2a cleared HBsAg. Rates were similar irrespective of prior NA or baseline HBeAg seroconversion. Among those who cleared HBsAg by the end of 48 and 96 weeks' treatment, 77.8% (14/18) and 71.4% (20/28), respectively, sustained HBsAg loss for a further 48 weeks. Baseline HBsAg < 1 500 IU/mL and week 24 HBsAg < 200 IU/mL were associated with the highest rates of HBsAg loss at the end of both 48- and 96-week treatment (51.4% and 58.7%, respectively). Importantly, extending treatment from 48 to 96 weeks enabled 48.3% (14/29) more patients to achieve HBsAg loss. Conclusion Patients on long-term NA who are unlikely to meet therapeutic goals can achieve high rates of HBsAg loss by switching to Peg-IFN alfa-2a. HBsAg loss rates may be improved for some patients by extending treatment from 48 to 96 weeks, although the differences in our study cohort were not statistically significant. Baseline and on-treatment HBsAg may predict HBsAg loss with Peg-IFN alfa-2a.

Objective In patients with non -small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)undergoing radical surgery,there were still many inevitable recurrences and distant metastases,even after systemic postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy.At the same time,many patients were in the stage Ⅳ at the time of initial treatment.The aims of this study were to investigate and compare the first-line chemotherapy(First-line Chemotherapy at Recurrence Post-adjuvant Chemotherapy,FCRPC)in NSCLC patients with distant metas-tasis after adjuvant chemotherapy with initial treatment at the phase Ⅳ of NSCLC patients with first-line chemotherapy(Initial First-line Chemotherapy,IFC).Methods A total of 603 patients with distant metastatic NSCLC were collected in this study.Among them,73 of them were FCRPC and 530 of them for IFC.Statistical methods for propensity score matching were used to balance the clinical features between FCRPC and IFC groups.Chi-square test was used to compare the short-term efficacy between FCRPC and IFC groups.Survival analysis was performed using regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier analysis.Results There was no significant difference in objective response rate(ORR)and disease control rate(DCR)between FCRPC and IFC groups in NSCLC patients with dis-tant metastases(ORR rate:27.46% in the FCRPC group,24.7% in the PFC group,P=0.851 and DCR rate:78.1% in the FCRPC group,65.6% in the PFC group,P=0.140).There was also no significant difference in the median progression-free survival(9.8 months in the FCRPC group and 8.5 months in the PFC group,P=0.337)and median overall survival(20.0 months in the FCRPC group and 14.4 months in the PFC group,P=0.087).Conclusion There is no significant difference in the prognosis of first-line chemotherapy between NSCLC patients with distant metastases and with initial treatment at the stageⅣafter adjuvant chemotherapy.

Objective To establish a rapid, simple, sensitive, and specific multiplex real-time PCR method for quantitative detection of Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella and Shigella in tree shrews.Methods Specific primers and probes were designed, according to the HipO gene of Campylobacter jejuni, inV gene of Salmonella and ipaH gene of Shigella.The primers were confirmed by single pathogen quantitative PCR, and the sensitivity and specificity of the multiplex PCR were analyzed.Finall, the samples of experimental tree shrews were detected by this multiplex PCR method.Results The PCR element of TaqMan-MGB real-time PCR assay was able to quantitatively amplify the Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella or Shigella.Appropriate standard amplification curves of Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella and Shigella in the multiplex quantitative PCR were obtained.The sensitivity of this method was 1×103 ng/μL.There was no false positive detection from other bacterial strains.Conclusions This multiplex quantitative real-time PCR method has good application and development prospects in the detection of microorganisms in tree shrews.

Objective To acquire the prevalence and molecular identification data on Syphacia muris and provide reference for the revision of national standard. Methods 923 batches of 5199 SPF animals ( including one batch of 5 monkeys, 3 batches of 25 mini?pigs, 28 batches of 55 rabbits, 13 batches of 248 hamsters, 37 batches of 198 guinea pigs, 93 batches of 459 rats, 742 batches of 4179 mice, 5 batches of 25 chickens and one batch of 5 ducks) and 145 batches of 1389 clean animals ( including one batch of 3 rabbits, 4 batches of 31 hamsters, 16 batches of 157 guinea pigs, 32 batches of 268 rats and 92 batches of 930 mice ) came from 50 different manufactures in China. Direct microscopy real?time dynamic video recording techniques in combination with morphological identification method were applied to screen the Syphacia muris infestation. A multiple polymerase chain reaction ( multiple?PCR ) testing of the isolate based on amplification of the conserved portions of the Syphacia muris internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 28S ribosomal RNA (28S rRNA), NADH dehydrogenase subunits 1 (nad1) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) genes, and the molecular sequencing of the multiple?PCR amplicons was used to confirm the Syphacia muris infection. Results Syphacia muris eggs, larvae and adults were detected by using direct microscopy real?time dynamic video recording technique. Syphacia muris were detected based on the morphology and size of ovum, larvae, and female and male adult worms. Multiple?PCR and sequencing were performed to identify ITS, 28S rRNA, nad1 and cox1 genes of DNA extracted from the single egg, larva and adult parasite Syphacia muris. This approach allowed the specific identification with no amplicon being amplified from heterogeneous DNA samples, and sequencing confirmed the identity of the amplified sequences. Molecular characterization by multiple?PCR amplification and sequencing of the ITS, 28S rRNA, nad1 and cox1 genes demonstrated the presence of Syphacia muris. Multiple?PCR followed by sequencing confirmed 285 of 5199 SPF and 135 of 1389 clean animal samples classified as positive by using direct microscopy real?time dynamic video recording technique in the study as containing Syphacia muris?specific DNA. Comparison of the partial sequences of the ITS, 28S rRNA, nad1 and cox1 genes revealed 100% similarity amongst Syphacia muris from different animals. The prevalence of Syphacia muris infection in SPF and clean animals were 5?5% (285/5199) and 9?7% (135/1389), respectively. Conclusions Direct microscopy real?time dynamic video recording technique, multiple?PCR and sequencing can be used to rapidly detect and accurately identify Syphacia muris. The zoonotic nature of Syphacia muris can be regard as a public health alter, hence the good quality control of animal has an important role in protecting human health and safeguarding people safety. This is the first molecular identification and infection investigation of Syphacia muris in SPF and clean animals in China.

Diarrhea is a common intestinal symptom in macaque.The corresponding intestinal lesions of macaque are mainly described at autopsy but less observed by colonoscopy.The aim of this study was to develop a colonoscopic technique and to obtain endoscopic images of the entire colon in macaques.Eight healthy adult macaques ( 5 males and 3 females) without diarrhea for 2 months, were fed Glauber’ s salt through nasogastric tubes.The colon cleanliness was well matched to the endoscopic observation of macaque colon.The procedure took 10-20 min for each animal.There was no obvious abnormality in the colon of four animals except some slight differences of mucosal structure from that of human beings.Small pieces of erosion and ulcer in the colons were observed in four macaques which presented mild diarrhea for less than 1 day, while a severe stenosis was observed in one of those four macaques.No animal died during and one week after the endoscopic procedure.Colonoscopy may safely performed in macaques.The images taken by colonoscopy may be important to establish diagnosis and treatment of colitis in macaques in time and to evaluate the efficacy of drug intervention as well.This technique is also helpful to provide qualified macaques for scientific researches.

Objective To analyze and evaluate the population genetic quality of 3 subbreeds of China Agricultural University miniature pigs in Beijing.Method According to the local standard DB11/T828.3 -2011, 25 pairs of microsatellite primers were used in 3 subbreeds of China Agricultural University miniature pigs, and software Popgen32 was used to process the data.Results 24 microsatellite loci shared 130, 122 and 138 alleles in the China Agricultural University miniature pigs I, II, III, respectively. The average heterozygosity was 0.6759, 0.5967 and 0.6779, respectively, while the average polymorphism information content ( PIC) was 0.6344, 0.5540 and 0.6403, respectively. The genetic distance between China Agricultural University miniature pig II and III was 0.4251, while the genetic distance between China Agricultural University miniature pig I and II was 0.2084.Conclusions In the 3 subbreeds, China Agricultural University miniature pigs II and III have genetic stability and genetic diversity, and both of which satisfy with the genetic characteristics of closed colony laboratory animal.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the predominance ticks and the infectious status of severe fever with thrombocytopenia (SFTSV) in Penglai and Laizhou counties, Shandong province.

METHODSTwo towns with high incidence rate were selected in Penglai and Laizhou, respectively, then three villages were selected in each towns. Parasitic ticks were collected from the host skin by hand manually and free ticks manually with white cloth from the grassland, monthly, during April to December in 2011. Samples were classified by original, varieties, developmental stages, then extracted RNA, using Realtime RT-PCR to test severe fever thrombocytopenia syndrome virus, S fragments were amplified with nested PCR, then isolated virus. By neighbor joining method in the phylogenetic tree, the minimum infection rate (MIR) was used to represent the infection status of ticks in novel bunyavirus.

RESULTSA total of 3 145 ticks were collected totally from 5 categories, there were 3 048(96.92%) of Haemaphysalis longicornis, 73(2.32%) of Rhinpicephalus sanguineus, 10(0.32%) of microplus Boophilus, 9(0.29%) of Haemaphysalis campanulata, 5(0.16%) of Dermacentor sinicus, respectively. The positive rate of nucleic acid of 2 044 samples was 6.16% (126/2 044), minimum infection rate (MIR) was 4.01%, there were 122(96.83%) of Haemaphysalis longicornis, 3(2.38%) of Rhinpicephalus sanguineus, and 1(0.79%) of microplus Boophilus, MIR was 4.00%, 4.11%, and 10.00%, respectively. There were no nucleic acid positive samples in Haemaphysalis campanulata and Dermacentor sinicus. The 11 S segments were amplified in 126 positive samples, the homology of S fragment was 95.6%-99.9% with 11 strains isolated from the identified SFTS cases in local area, 3 strains isolated from animals, and 11 strains isolated from other areas. There was no significant difference among original, varieties and developmental stages.

CONCLUSIONHaemaphysalis longicornis was the predominant species in Penglai and Laizhou counties, it could be propagation medium with Rhipicephalus sanguineus and microplus Boophilus, S sequence in ticks was higher homology with virus isolated from local SFTS cases.

Objective To investigate the predominance ticks and the infectious status of severe fever with thrombocytopenia (SFTSV) in Penglai and Laizhou counties, Shandong province.Methods Two towns with high incidence rate were selected in Penglai and Laizhou, respectively, then three villages were selected in each towns.Parasitic ticks were collected from the host skin by hand manually and free ticks manually with white cloth from the grassland, monthly, during April to December in 2011.Samples were classified by original, varieties, developmental stages, then extracted RNA, using Realtime RT-PCR to test severe fever thrombocytopenia syndrome virus, S fragments were amplified with nested PCR, then isolated virus.By neighbor joining method in the phylogenetic tree, the minimum infection rate (MIR) was used to represent the infection status of ticks in novel bunyavirus.Results A total of 3 145 ticks were collected totally from 5 categories, there were 3 048(96.92％) of Haemaphysalis longicornis, 73(2.32％) of Rhinpicephalus sanguineus, 10(0.32％) of microplus Boophilus, 9(0.29％) of Haemaphysalis campanulata, 5 (0.16％) of Dermacentor sinicus, respectively.The positive rate of nucleic acid of 2 044 samples was 6.16％ (126/2 044), minimum infection rate (MIR) was 4.01％, there were 122(96.83％) of Haemaphysalis longicornis, 3(2.38％) of Rhinpicephalus sanguineus, and 1 (0.79％) of microplus Boophilus, MIR was 4.00％, 4.11％, and 10.00％, respectively.There were no nucleic acid positive samples in Haemaphysalis campanulata and Dermacentor sinicus.The 11 S segments were amplified in 126 positive samples, the homology of S fragment was 95.6％-99.9％ with 11 strains isolated from the identified SFTS cases in local area, 3 strains isolated from animals, and 11 strains isolated from other areas.There was no significant difference among original, varieties and developmental stages.Conclusion Haemaphysalis longicornis was the predominant species in Penglai and Laizhou counties, it could be propagation medium with Rhipicephalus sanguineus and microplus Boophilus, S sequence in ticks was higher homology with virus isolated from local SFTS cases.